A Guidebook for Managing Telecentre Networks/Foreword

Foreword

I am heartened that telecentre networks have immortalized what they have learned from experience about network building and management since 2005, especially because there is no longer any dispute: networks are the new normal for organizing and managing telecentres successfully. As such, this initiative represents a major contribution by and for networks, as well as for the global telecentre community at large.

The resulting Network Management Guide addresses practical issues that networks face on a daily basis. It discusses the challenges and proposes solutions from the practitioners’ perspectives. As a living document, constantly updated through wiki posts, the guide encourages the telecentre community to engage in building stronger telecentres together and to share experiences and perspectives for many years to come.

I would like to thank the network leaders and practitioners who dedicated their time to write the various chapters in this guide. They are: José Avando Souza Sales (ATN Brazil), Sulah Ndaula (UgaBytes, Uganda), Aminata Fofana (Afriklinks, Mali), Mahmud Hasan (Bangladesh Telecentre Network), Maria Teresa M. Camba (PhilCeCNet, Philippines), Kemly Camacho (Sula Batsu, Costa Rica), Paula M. Carrión (Infodesarrollo, Ecuador), and Manuel Acevedo (ICT4D consultant, Argentina). I extend my deepest appreciation too to the members of the telecentre.org community that reviewed and provided useful feedback to these authors.

This guide was co-edited by Manuel Acevedo (Argentina), Claire Buré (Chile), Silvia Caicedo and myself (telecentre.org, Canada). It is published by telecentre.org (www.telecentre.org) and is available online and (coming soon) as a living wiki. Finally, this guide represents the very best of what telecentre.org and the telecentre movement is all about: working together to share experiences and best practices with a view to making telecentres strong, better, more sustainable and more relevant to the people they serve.

Congratulations. I'm proud to be and work in your company.

Meddie Mayanja

Senior Program Officer

telecentre.org